Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Monday came quietly and disappeared in a gust of wind and rain. This morning brings a dark quiet as well and more rain. It is Fall in the NorthWest. It is peaceful here on the Island. The peace has lulled me into a state of complacency when it come to writing. Have to find my rhythm here. Am feeling daunted by the blank screen...odd but true.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Every day is a precious moment but Friday is a personal day of celebration. I use the noting of it to keep me on track...to keep my work momentum up and moving. It has been a good week. Much accomplished. Am working with good people who care about what they are doing and who want to make a difference. It is a pleasure to stay in there with them. It is a gift to have a job that is about giving back. When done well, it is a little bit easier to rest at night.

Autumn is only several days away from being officially here. Although from reading other posts we all know the transition has begun. The forest continues to thin. City light from across the peninsula twinkle in the early morning darkness - seeing them a gift from the leafs that have fallen.

Plan to kayak Point Defiant on Sunday. It seems that I am passing through one of those brief interludes of peace and am drinking it in with joy.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Ah, she has returned. A decided cool feel is in the air again this morning. Graceful leafs twirl to the ground all around me. The forest begins to thin - shedding all that she does not need for winter - each day a bit less encumbered with the foliage that was summer. I and my fellow Jews will mark the beginning of the Fall season with Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Reminders to celebrate the passage of time and a deep connection to tribal history. The most holy of holidays ends with remembering the quest for a moral life. Autumn is the time to think these thoughts, to whisper the prayers and stand by others who are doing the same. The transition of seasons. The transition of human kind. Trees teach a simple yet powerful lesson. Drop the old decorations in order to think through what action will be undertaken in the growing seasons that lie ahead. Dropping veils allows for the flow fresh air and cleansing.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

America is attempting to figure out the long and short of a problem....health care. I've been sitting on the side line listening and watching. It is difficult to hear above the roar of fear mongering. Both the Democrats and the Republicans have much to lose. Voices are rising.

One bit that was thrown about was the scenario that the Obama adminstration wanted to pull the plug on Grandma. As a nurse I am bewildered and I am appalled that this played well to information overloaded and fact depleted Americans. Do my countrymen not know that this thinly veiled social issue is being played out every day? Large money making health care companies are making those decisions every single day. There is no robust public debate in those hallways. Someone in care management and their supervisors and corporate officers and CEOs make just that decision EVERY SINGLE DAY - who gets treatment and who does not. Fair does not enter into the decision - profit does. Medicare has long been a cash cow for many companies that deliver all sorts of health care products.

Do I think the government will deliver a better system. No, I do not. I work in Long Term Care, I know how punitive the system can be in its heavy handed and biased attempts to determine if quality care has been delivered. Government funded health care will mean more regulations and more government workers. The thought makes me shudder. But do I think this attempt to find a solution for the uninsured is some Hilter like plot to undo American society - I do not.

Americans do not know what health care costs. But before we begin to itemize cancer treatments, pain medication, MRI and x-rays let's first find out what the wrist brace that a durable medical equipment company made for $14 dollars ( and what do you bet that it was not made in this country!) but charge it's Medicare patient $400 is all about. While we are at it let's find out what the CEO of HMO's and other health insurance companies make and how their salaries are determined. Just what are their incentives to make their companies profitable? If companies are using our tax dollars to make a profit you should know where they stand in the fight against some kind of national health care that might protect currently uninsured people, Let's take a closer look at the Pharmacuetical companies and hear how they decide on price for product. How many of our tax dollars have kept them afloat in good and bad times?

Fear is a powerful tool. It is being wielded with deadly force. I have a deep and abiding Jeffersonian mistrust of government. I did not vote for anyone in the current administration but I am not fooled by the fear mongering. Fascism? Hitler? This is about money and political power. Period. Who has it and who does not. Who will control it and who will not. It should be about Americans and access to health care. Will there be inequality in health care delivery and systems. Probably. Unequal is far different from NONE for many. Listen. Listen to reason not fear.

Friday, September 11, 2009

All is well with the world....Friday has arrived yet again and the work week can be checked off the To Do List and playful thoughts begin to stray to the week-end.

This week-end is the All Island Garage Sale - 90 homes are participating. There should be some fun things to see and who knows perhaps an item or two to re-home.

This morning and this afternoon there are three wound in-services that I must attend to and a plan of correction that needs to be written. But the end of the day can not be far off...I can almost see it from here!

Monday, September 7, 2009

As mentioned in an earlier post I trekked off to Renton over the week end to visit an Ikea outlet. What a fascinating store! Set up in "areas" of the home (living room, dining room, kitchen) it is chock-a-block full of creative, sturdy and affordable ideas for decorating and furnishing small spaces in an affordable fashion. Perfect for folks in urban areas everywhere. Equally fascinating to the interesting color and design was the diverse polutation of shoppers. I heard English spoken about half the time. People seemed to be from "everywhere".

I found just what I needed at a reasonable cost - amazing to find a well made slip cover for a love seat for under $50 - change the look without changing the entire piece of furniture!

By the way, it is cool here this morning...might even turn the heat on for a few minutes. Tomorrow night it will be in the 40's - summer is beginning to slip away from us! It remains cloudy and rainy...the lawn looks like a jungle.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Up at my usual time. It has been pouring rain since yesterday evening. How I love that sound! Sunday and it is raining and dark. All the above is very soothing. Will meet friends in Tacoma later this morning. In the mean time I'm going to sip coffee and listen to the sounds of rain. Not a bad way to begin a new week.

Yesterday the lovely lady who cut my hair and hid the silver roots (bless her!) commented about how much she hated the rain and wondered when I would tire of it as well. For me the answer is probably NEVER! It reminds me of other places that I love: New England and Utah (the State where I was born). Central California was so dry...too dry. For some, that dry heat is attractive but for me it is depleting, I know now that I will never make a good "desert rat". Winters in the Central Valley are wonderful and when I need a dose of sun both the star and those daughter-friends that I left when I moved north - that is where I will go for a visit.

Many of my tasks were completed yesterday. Still have to do a bit of grocery shopping but that will be accomplished when I meet friends at the wonderful Metropolitan Market in Proctor! Must also head to to laudramat to dry the clothes I washed yesterday (dryer died just after carting it a 1000 miles north...of course). I notice that there is not a legion of folks lining up outside to vaccum the floors so that is also on the TBD list. Once the house is in order, I will grab the camera, rain coat and head to Tacoma. Friends and adventures await!

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Morning usually calls me and my dogs out of slumber and into the day at an earlier hour...say 4 AM. Today the gentle splattered of rain was "white noise" to my tired mind and body and I let that hour and the next and then the next pass by unheralded. My canine companions were willing to not stir as well. It feels as though perhaps we've lost something but not so large that grief or fretting is required. Only something nagging to be acknowledged. At this moment I think it is simply Daylight pouting that she did not have the usual audience as she pushed her way over the Island..."Mommy, look at me, look at me". Normally I bare witness to that arrival. Not today. Today I slept through the drama of Daylight at dawn and it was delicious!

The earth sits still out side my office window. She is quietly bathing in the gentle rain. Leaves are silently busy turning yellow, waiting their turn to finish their job and then float to the ground. The blackberry vines have wrapped their prickly limbs around the near by trunks of trees. There is a bounty for the birds out there in a wet world. The grass is too long...alas, I've not yet purchased a mower. Now that task of urban farming (the mowing), of tiding up green space, will be quite a chore. Still, the rain has handed me a free pass 'no manual labor for one day'.

There are a few items on the To Do List: get nails done, do something about hair whose roots no longer match the wild un-tamed profusion at the other end (a ridiculous problem to have in one's 6th decade); visit Weight Watchers to tackle the excess adipose tissue related to poor eating habits AGAIN; find a slip cover for the couch preferably in black as lime green is not working for me or the dogs :) ; visit the grocery store as there is precious little to make a meal with on anyone's food plan and finally pay the bills to keep the peace in my world . Time to move on with this day. I can see a few cars and trucks move by on the street outside - just beyond the rim of trees and vines that surround the house. Get up - get on with your day! My neighbors are busy on this rainy day. I sigh in reluctant agreement. Alright then...forward, march.

Friday, September 4, 2009

The color purple marks the end of summer. Our long awaited veggies and flowers from the lush profusion of the late season garden (such a gift in September), have arrived The color whispers "autumn is coming".

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Wednesday - mid-week, and even though my work day begins far too early this particular morning...anything is possible once Wednesday is on the door step!

My son and his adorable girl friend are coming for Thanksgiving and I am so happy about that little piece of news! Have already begun to plan the menu, week end activities and get together with other family members. Life hands us wonderful moments to anticipate!